1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a waterproof shield connector.
2. Background Art
FIG. 4 shows a waterproof shield connector in a related art.
A waterproof shield connector 100 is disclosed in JP-A-2005-129355. This waterproof shield connector 100 includes an electric wire 110 with a terminal, a resin housing 120, a rubber waterproof ring 130 and a shield shell 140.
In the electric wire 110 with the terminal, an end (electric wire end) 111a of a covered electric wire 111 is connected to a terminal fitting 112 which is conductively connected to a connection terminal of an equipment.
As shown in FIG. 4, the resin housing 120 includes a case fitting part 121 which is fitted and connected to a connector fitting hole 124a of a shield case 124 of the equipment and a terminal insertion hole 122 which is formed through the case fitting part 121.
The shield case 124 is a metallic housing for connecting a connector, which is equipped to an inverter device or the like of an electric vehicle, for example.
The terminal insertion hole 122 of the resin housing 120 is a hole part which receives and holds the electric wire end 111a of the electric wire 110 with the terminal and the terminal fitting 112 through a rear end opening 122a. The terminal fitting 112 received in the terminal insertion hole 122 is locked to a lance 123 equipped to face the terminal insertion hole 122 and therefore is prevented from being detached. A leading end of the terminal fitting 112 locked to the lance 123 protrudes from a leading end of the case fitting part 121 and is connected to a connection terminal (not shown) in the shield case 124.
The waterproof ring 130 is fitted and mounted to the terminal insertion hole 122. The waterproof ring 130 is arranged in the terminal insertion hole 122 in such a way that an inner periphery of the waterproof ring is in close contact with an outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 111 in the terminal insertion hole 122 and an outer periphery thereof is in close contact with an inner peripheral surface of the terminal insertion hole 122. In this way, sealing between the electric wire 111 and the terminal insertion hole 122 is achieved so that a waterproof property is secured in the terminal insertion hole 122.
A cylindrical rear holder 150 is fitted and mounted to the rear end opening 122a of the terminal insertion hole 122. The rear holder 150 includes an electric wire holding hole 151 to hold an outer periphery of the electric wire 111, a ring pressing part 152 abutting against the waterproof ring 130 to prevent detachment of the waterproof ring 130 and a locking protrusion 153 which is engaged with a lock hole 122b formed on the terminal insertion hole 122 to couple the rear holder to the resin housing 120. The electric wire holding hole 151 of the rear holder 150 restricts the movement of the electric wire 111 in a radial direction. By doing so, it is prevented that the waterproof ring 130 is distorted in the radial direction by a bending load applied to the electric wire 111 and thus the waterproof property is degraded.
The shield shell 140 is made of metal and is fitted and mounted to an outer side of the resin housing 120 so as to cover an outer periphery of the resin housing 120, so that an interior of the resin housing 120 is electromagnetically shielded from the surroundings. The shield shell 140 has a dual-cylinder structure which includes a cylindrical inner shell 141 fitted to an outer periphery of the resin housing 120 and an outer shell 142 fitted to an outer periphery of the inner shell 141. The electric wire 111 is covered with a metal braided wire 161 for electromagnetic shielding. The inner shell 141 and the outer shell 142 are conductively connected to the metal braided wire 161 by sandwiching the metal braided wire 161 therebetween.
Further, JP-A-2009-123584 discloses a waterproof shield connector in which the rear holder 150 described above is omitted and instead a waterproof ring to seal between the terminal insertion hole of the resin housing and the electric wire is modified to an improved structure in which a reinforcing resin member is embedded and equipped.
However, the waterproof shield connector 100 disclosed in JP-A-2005-129355 has a configuration that a dedicated rear holder 150 is mounted to the terminal insertion hole 122 in order to prevent detachment of the waterproof ring 130 and degradation of the waterproof property due to bending of the electric wire 111. As a result, an increase in the number of components and an increase in the number of assembly process are caused due to the mounting of the separate rear holder 150 and correspondingly a manufacturing cost becomes expensive.
Meanwhile, since the rear holder 150 is omitted in the waterproof shield connector disclosed in JP-A-2009-123584, it is possible to reduce the number of components and the number of assembly process. However, it is difficult to prevent a rubber part of the waterproof ring from being distorted in a direction of a bending load when the bending load is applied to the electric wire inserted through the waterproof ring. And, the distortion of the waterproof ring causes the waterproof ring to abut against only one side of the terminal insertion hole and thus there is a possibility that the sealing performance of the waterproof ring is degraded.